Conventional thinking about the future is linear, confined to narrow, "flashlight" views. Horizon Project workshops enable participants to see outside of these narrow beams by working from a future inspired by a hypothetical social, technological, economic or environmental condition.

At the end of the workshop, participants “look back from the future” to see how what has been proposed for the future can be made applicable to today’s conditions.

Horizon Project workshops have been conducted at among other locations, the Bremen, Germany Innovation Agency, the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City, the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, India and Tongi University in Shanghai, China.